A man who sexually exploited a child was sentenced May 9, 2014, to 30 years in federal prison.

James Jones, age 51, of Maysville, Missouri, received the sentence after a February 20, 2014 guilty plea to one count of sexual exploitation of a child. At the guilty plea hearing, Jones admitted that, in 2010, he persuaded, induced, and enticed a 12-year-old female in Fayette County to take pictures of her genital area and send the pictures to him. Jones previously had been convicted of taking indecent liberties with a child in North Carolina in 1981.

Jones was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Jones was sentenced to 360 months’ imprisonment, including credit for time served in a related state case. A special assessment of $100 was imposed, and Jones must also serve a 10-year term of supervised release. He must comply with all sex offender registration and public notification requirements.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, and the DeKalb County, Missouri Sheriff’s Office.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab Resources.